Let’s Form a Chickenhawks Brigade!

by Daniel Bacher

Dissident Voice
January 6, 2003

Are you sick and
tired of hearing all of the war-mongering and macho posturing by chickenhawk
politicians and right wing talk show hosts who are positively rabid about
spilling other people’s blood although they avoided military service
themselves? The increasing push of our country towards war has inspired me to
organize a "Chickenhawks Brigade" of right wingers to fight the
impending war in Iraq and any other place our chief chickenhawk, George W.
Bush, decides to invade and bomb.

During the
Spanish Civil War, leftists in the United States formed the "Abraham
Lincoln Brigade" to fight on the side of the Spanish Republic against the
fascists. Unlike the chickenhawks, these brave people put their lives on the
line for a cause they believed in. The life and tragic death of one of these
"brigadistas" was portrayed in Ernest Hemingway's classic novel,
"For Whom the Bell Tolls."

This
"Chickenhawks Brigade" would be organized in a similar fashion to the
"Abraham Lincoln Brigade." We could create different divisions of
this brigade for various occupations and interest groups of the war mongering,
right wing chickenhawk community, including radio talk show hosts, politicians,
corporate leaders and writers.

We should start
off the campaign in Iraq by sending over the "Right Wing Radio Talk Show
Host" division of the brigade, including such strident reactionaries as
Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Mark Williams. Sending these folks over to
Iraq will accomplish four purposes:

1. It will allow
them demonstrate their "manhood" by volunteering on the front lines
of combat.

2. Their absence
from radio will raise the level of political discourse in this country and
remove war mongering, racist, hate filled disinformation from the airwaves.

3. Hopefully,
the "brigadistas" that return alive from the war will have a
different perspective on the "glories" of combat and will be less
enthusiastic about sending other people overseas to die in senselesswars.

4. The surviving
members of the brigade may become more sensitive to better funding veteran's
programs for heath care, disability benefits, overcoming homelessness and other
needs.

When these
purveyors of hate and violence are over fighting the "good fight" in
Iraq or whatever war the U.S. is engaged in, progressive journalists and
activists can take their places. I volunteer Bruce Anderson, editor of the
Anderson Valley Advertiser, to take over the Michael Savage Show on KSFO in San
Francisco; Eduardo Cohen of Veterans for Peace to cover for Mark Williams on
KFBK in Sacramento; and Father Roy Bourgeois of School of Americas Watch to
host Rush Limbaugh's nationwide radio show. All of these people are veterans
who know what war and the military are really about, unlike the chickenhawks.

If
you want more information on the “chickenhawk community,” headed by George W.
“The Deserter” Bush, check out: http://awolbush.com/. This website has amazing
information about the military records of G.W. and other right wing
Republicans. There's plenty of "cannon fodder" for the Chickenhawks
Brigade on that website!

Daniel Bacheris
an outdoor writer/alternative journalist/satirical songwriter from Sacramento
California. He is also a long-time peace, social justice and environmental
activist. Email:danielbacher@hotmail.com